Facebook photo of Anna Chapman (Fame)
Like father, like daughter? If so, Anna Chapman – the stunning, alleged spy-next-door among the ring of espionage suspects recently pinpointed by the FBI – may just be trying to follow the family business.
This Manhattan-based, potential real-life Bond Girl is actually closely related to a former KGB agent, reports New York's Daily News.
As nine of 11 suspected spies made a court appearance Thursday, Chapman's eyebrowing-raising family ties were revealed. Her true identity? She's actually Anya Kushchenko, daughter of Vasily Kushchenko – a diplomat who worked in Russian embassies in Africa.
Alex Chapman, her British ex-husband, couldn't quite keep the family secret. Speaking about his ex to the Daily Telegraph, he recalled how Anna's father, who is still a top diplomat in Russian, was "scary" and always taking extra precaution – even when he was driving.
The couple's 4-year marriage ended in 2006 when his wife's line of work became too much for Chapman to handle.
"Toward the end of our marriage, she became very secretive, going for meetings on her own with 'Russian friends,'" he says. "She was transformed into someone with access to a lot of money, boasting about all the influential people she was meeting."
That's when Anna took her routine to the States, moving to New York in 2007 to take advantage of "business opportunities," according to Chapman – who also says that Anna had previously complained about Americans and expressed her dislike of their accents.
But the allegations don't faze Chapman: He remembers his ex-wife as daddy's little girl.
"I felt she would have done anything for her dad," Chapman says. "When I saw that she had been arrested on suspicion of spying, it didn't come as much of a surprise to be honest."
Anna Chapman is currently being held without bond.
This Manhattan-based, potential real-life Bond Girl is actually closely related to a former KGB agent, reports New York's Daily News.
As nine of 11 suspected spies made a court appearance Thursday, Chapman's eyebrowing-raising family ties were revealed. Her true identity? She's actually Anya Kushchenko, daughter of Vasily Kushchenko – a diplomat who worked in Russian embassies in Africa.
Alex Chapman, her British ex-husband, couldn't quite keep the family secret. Speaking about his ex to the Daily Telegraph, he recalled how Anna's father, who is still a top diplomat in Russian, was "scary" and always taking extra precaution – even when he was driving.
Suspicious Behavior
"He always seemed to have a lot more security than the other diplomats," Alex tells the paper. "He had a Land Rover with blacked-out windows, and there was always one car in front of it and one car behind it."The couple's 4-year marriage ended in 2006 when his wife's line of work became too much for Chapman to handle.
"Toward the end of our marriage, she became very secretive, going for meetings on her own with 'Russian friends,'" he says. "She was transformed into someone with access to a lot of money, boasting about all the influential people she was meeting."
That's when Anna took her routine to the States, moving to New York in 2007 to take advantage of "business opportunities," according to Chapman – who also says that Anna had previously complained about Americans and expressed her dislike of their accents.
But the allegations don't faze Chapman: He remembers his ex-wife as daddy's little girl.
"I felt she would have done anything for her dad," Chapman says. "When I saw that she had been arrested on suspicion of spying, it didn't come as much of a surprise to be honest."
Anna Chapman is currently being held without bond.
